On RSS 'remote control', Jaitley says Modi's word prevails

Ahead of Sunday's much-anticipated cabinet reshuffle, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Friday denied that the RSS calls the shots in government-making.

Answering questions posed by TV talk show host Karan Thapar, Jaitley said it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi's word at the end of the day that matters in ministry formation.

Asked if the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological head of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was "the remote control", Jaitley said Modi can consult anyone he likes "but at the end of the day it's his word that prevails".

"And a prime minister with the clarity of mind like Mr. Modi is certainly not going to be dictated to by anybody else in the matter of cabinet decisions."

He said that in the matter of constituting his council of ministers, "it is certainly that he (Modi) is the one who takes the decision".

Jaitley also maintained that a "large part of what is written" in senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai's book "2014: The Election that changed India" would "not be very accurate".

He was speaking at the book launch event Friday evening.